78% of IT Decision-makers think IoT likely to result in Data Loss or Theft in the Next 2 Years
The latest study released by the Ponemon Institute says that nearly 8 in 10 IT decision-makers think it’s anywhere from “somewhat likely” to “certain” they’ll suffer a data breach as a result of IoT in the next two years. That’s a massive admission of fear about the downside of this new wave of technology.
It comes on the back of numerous IoT-related breaches and botnet compromises in the last 12 months.
The study showed that less than half of respondents said their organisations could defend their networks against IoT devices. And a similar number don’t specifically monitor the risk posed by them.
Of the 50% that said they did not have a full inventory of network connected equipment, 85% (42.5% of all respondents) said that there was no centralised responsibility for IoT in their organisation and highlighted a lack of resources to track it. This points to the rise of Shadow IT as devices are connected by non-IT staff members using commonly available network credentials.
What can you do about it?
A network audit, policy creation and responsibility assignment are the first and most logical steps. It’s hard work, but the downside of failing to do it is becoming painfully obvious. If you don’t have the ability to do it in-house, consider asking an IT Consulting Company like Computer One. We bring the required experience and proven processes to swiftly account for and bring your entire connected environment under control, accompanied by effective IoT policies that still enable company productivity and innovation.
And for ongoing security, we would suggest that software that can learn what is normal about your network and what abnormal looks like is the first line of defence against such breaches. Cisco Umbrella, Cisco AMP for Networks, Darktrace and Barracuda Advanced Threat Protection are several product sets that can either detect IoT devices acting out of character or block connections to command and control servers.
